APL Season 2: Chola Chiefs’ tactical tweak pays in win over Kakatiya Knights

Hyderabad, Oct 9 (IANS) Using their compound archers to apply pressure at the start of each set, Chola Chiefs defeat Kakatiya Knights 6-2 to register their first win of Season 2 of the Archery Premier League (APL) in Hyderabad on Friday.

It was Colombia’s Alejandra Usquiano, on her APL debut, who was on sensational form for Chiefs as she shot all eight arrows for 10s, with the Chiefs’ tactical tweak paying off against Nico Wiener’s Knights.

This result meant that both teams are now on one win and one defeat each after two matches.

Archery Premier League (APL), the world’s first franchise-based archery league, is initiated by the Archery Association of India and comprises six teams and a total of 48 archers, with 36 Indians and 12 elite international stars. The league, taking place at People’s Plaza in Hyderabad, will culminate on October 18 with the grand finale featuring the top four teams in the semifinals, followed by the title clash.

It was evident in the first set itself that the Chiefs were employing an interesting tactic at the start, going in with their two compound archers. Rishabh Yadav and Usquiano shot both their arrows in the first half, and it helped start the match with a perfect half of 40.

It meant the scoreboard pressure was on the Knights, who stuck to their usual routine of two compounds and two recurves alternating.

In the second set too, the Chiefs’ compounds went 40 for 40, and for the Knights, Neeraj Chauhan had barely any time to get his last arrow away, and he could manage only a 5. The Chiefs scored a high 76 in that set, and they took a 4-0 lead. The Knights had fought back from 0-4 down against the Mighty Marathas on Day 1, and it looked like they could turn this around again as they took the third set.

Neeraj made up for the earlier slip with a super 10 with the 8th arrow, and this time Marcus D’Almeida could manage only a 3 for the Chiefs when a 9 would have won the match. Knights took that set 76-70.

But the fourth set was simply sensational for the Chola Chiefs as they scored 79 out of 80. The compound archers were anyway on fire, but their recurve stars Deepika Kumari and D’Almeida showed their class to clinch the set 79-76 and the match 6-2.

On the third day of action, Mighty Marathas will clash with Chola Chiefs to begin proceedings. That will be followed by Prithviraaj Yodhas vs Chero Archers. Saturday’s action will conclude with defending champions Rajputana Royals facing Kakatiya Knights.

–IANS

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